eCommerce is not a word we used to say for selling or buying online; with the new normal, it is more than a business! Physical stores are diverting and heading up their online presence. Once you have mastered eCommerce ABCs, you must know the art of benchmarking your store to pump up the business. One needs to understand the process and touchpoints before starting an online store.
Table of Contents
- For instance, have you wonder how does it work?
- Acquiring new customers following points should be taken care of.
- Who manages eCommerce stores?
- How to start?
- To extend the website operation to maximize the reach and get the traction you want, these are the added questions you need to think on too!
- Envision the store in the coming days like
- Summary
For instance, have you wonder how does it work?
Being a buyer, We visit the online store, Google shopping page, Social media, or a mobile app to browse the product. Once we got the exact products, We buy them, and the seller arranges the delivery. So manageable, isn’t it!!
On the other side of a coin, there are specific touchpoints you need to make sure to have that visitor converted into a customer.
Acquiring new customers following points should be taken care of.
Online Shop/Website
Make sure your website is user-friendly. It is the most and must-have segment of your online presence. Provide all the information, following design guidelines, and easy to use or navigate the entire store. Think from the customer’s perspective and craft the store based on the target audience.
Search Engine Optimization
Always optimize the store to be on the search engine. Follow the standards to optimize the store that will allow your store easy to found on the listing page. Consumers always tend to “search, compare and buy” the products. A well-optimized store will allow you to attract more customers.
Easy checkouts
This is the central point where the actual purchase happens. Make sure to provide hassle-free checkout to your customers. Let them add the products to the basket, review them and make the payment.
Product Appearance
Considering how you display your products has a significant influence on customers. Provide all the necessary details, information, and good quality images/videos of the products. Product reviews, comparison, and price calculation make your page more appealing.
Safe shipping
After the Covid-19 pandemic, every buyer wants their product safely delivered to their doorstep. It would be best to consider how you would deliver the product managing your own, with a courier or third-party logistics.
Security
Secure purchases will reassure your customers and leave a Trustmark. It aids you with the new prospects who are willing to buy and share their personal information with secure payment transfer to boost confidence and brand likings.
After-sales and support
Your job is not done once you deliver the product. The last impression you will leave on the customer is how you treat them after sales and support if needed. Count on aiming for the best possible support by visibly sharing the support number or care contact mail.
Who manages eCommerce stores?
Well, aiming for an incredible customer experience requires enormous efforts and a dedicated eCommerce team to manage the store. Though, It purely depends on how you want your store to be directed.
Initially, the early adopter thought it was a technical job and had an in-house IT team to manage the stores. As the era moves, and with the open-source eCommerce platforms available in the market, anyone with sound knowledge can handle the stores. So ultimately, the shop owners started managing the digital stores.
On the flip side, with the lack of market knowledge, they failed to maximize the reach. Here comes the need for marketing resources who manage the SEO and marketing the store to get traction. With multiple channels, including Social media, digital stores get notice.
Nowadays, shop owners outsource the entire store management to a dedicated team that manages the development and does marketing. It is a combination of in-house resources and a dedicated outsourcing team to run a profitable online store.
How to start?
You cannot have an impulsive thought for an online store at night and go live the following day! There are specific questions one needs to define and seek a scalable and reliable solution.
So, listed are vital questions you need to think about in advance before making a decision.
- Do you have any offline business?
- Do you have any online presence or an existing website?
- Do you have any technical resources or an in-house team to manage the store?
- Have you ever manage to deliver the products for the buying requests received via call or mail?
- What are the regions you targeting to sell online?
- How much budget do you wish to spare at the initial stage?
- How would you like to have your store being developed, custom one, or with open source eCommerce platforms?
- How will you market or make awareness of your store?
- Who will manage or run the store?
- Who will manage the operations like inventory, orders, inventory, payments, shipping, and delivery?
- Do you have any inventory, accounting, CRM, or ERP system and would like to integrate with your online business?
To extend the website operation to maximize the reach and get the traction you want, these are the added questions you need to think on too!
- Would you like to settle down with the domestic market or expand to various countries?
- Would you like to have a single language store or multi-language?
- Would you like to have the entire range of products in an online offering or even expand it?
- Would you like to have a single-dimensional store or multi-purpose store?
- Any specific and custom requirements to have in your store?
- What are the Payment and shipping gateways you are thinking of configuring?
- Any clear pricing strategy to describe being online compared to offline business?
Envision the store in the coming days like
- On which date would you like to launch the store?
- How much budget have you planned to spend on marketing and brand awareness?
- What are the cost breakups, profits, and margins set on the online store?
- Have you defined the phases of the store? How much would you like to cover as a short-term goal and determining the long-term objectives?
This bunch of questions goes on depending on the results you want for your desired digital store. One can look for a business solution analyst who can help shop owners have the best possible solution. Schedule your call now!
Summary
To put it in a nutshell, you need to understand the flow of an online store and make every step count that adds to a unique customer experience while originating your desired store. By determining the appropriate resources following various questions, one can utter the robust and profitable digital store.
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